Last night i was at a gig by Martyn Joseph – a Welsh singer songwiter, who has been plying his trade for a couple of decades. He’s no chart topper, but then he’s still around unlike a lot of today’s manufactured pop. How old do I sound? Over the course of 3 hours (with a break in the middle), he played songs and answered questions about his music and life. At times he was a stand up comedian, a master storyteller gripping us with his stories, at times he was the angry prophet railing against closure of welsh mines, of senseless loss of life, celebrity and politicians, at times he had us singing along to Elvis, and at other times the beauty and tenderness of his songs brought tears to our eyes. His songs are in many ways simple – about life and what he sees, whether in the news or an old lady in the post-office. He has that gift of involving us in the songs, of bringing melody and lyrics to express that which often we find difficult to express. I long for more musicians like him – the storytellers and prophets not afraid to write raw honest songs, who aren’t at the mercy of the record company or swayed by the whims of the buying public..
the soapbox 
here here!!
quality. he was in exeter in the autumn – outstanding.
We caught him in Vancouver on the first night of his north american tour, and it was good to discover his magic isn’t confined to the Errigle. He took us on the usual journey to the brink of despair at the brokenness of the world (Fading of Light was heartbreaking) – and then there was that turn, the glimmer of hope, the resolve that the darkness won’t win, that we can be beautiful, and one day Mary won’t need to weep any more… awesome stuff.
I spent most of the gig with tears running down my cheeks. He’s not someone I listen to much between gigs, but honestly there is no one else I would rather see in concert.
He does my heart good.
He’s dreadful. 🙂
Zoomie, you have no soul.